1. Introduction

1.1 Aim

The Get Formed! scheme aims to promote and support the pastoral formation of individuals who wish to achieve qualifications and certifications relevant to the ministry which they serve in a parish within the Archdiocese of Malta.

1.2 Nature

In brief, the Get Formed! scheme can refund up to 70% of programme enrolment fees for Pastoral Formation Institute (PFI) students who are also registered parish pastoral workers within the Archdiocese of Malta.

1.3 Duration of the measure

These guidelines will remain effective until the 30th of June, 2025, or until updated or amended by the PFI or the Archdiocese of Malta.

1.4 Designated authority

This incentive is managed by the Secretariat for Parish Life and Activity (Sec PLA).

1.5 Other important documents

This document is based on the official “Terms & Conditions for Students” of the PFI.

2. Definition of terms

2.1 ‘Applicant’

The individual or entity requesting a Get Formed! refund. This must necessarily also be the person who would have paid for the original programme enrolment fees: this is usually, but not always, the very same student who would have undertaken the programme/course, but may also be a third-party such as a parent, legal guardian, parish, employer, benefactor etc who would have paid the programme enrolment fees on the student’s behalf.

2.2 ‘Entity’

A legal person who is not a human person, such as a parish, pastoral zone, parish group etc.

2.3 ‘Enrolment Fee’

The funds successfully transferred to the Pastoral Formation Institute as part of a successful enrolment for a specific student in a specific occurrence of a specific programme.

2.4 ‘Individual’

When used as a noun, it refers to a human person.

2.5 ‘Issuer’

The entity, normally either the Pastoral Formation Institute or the Secretariat for Parish Life and Activity, which effectively issues a refund after an applicant’s Get Formed! request has been in part or in whole accepted.

2.6 ‘Occurrence’

An occurrence is a single and time-limited instance when a programme is offered. A single programme of studies may have several occurrences if that programme is offered more than once.

2.7 ‘PFI’

Pastoral Formation Institute, Archdiocese of Malta.

2.8 ‘Registered parish pastoral worker’

An individual whose role as a pastoral worker (within a parish, pastoral zone, parish group etc), whether paid or voluntary, is officially registered with the Secretariat for Parish Life and Activity, Archdiocese of Malta.

2.9 ‘Sec PLA’

Secretariat for Parish Life and Activity, Archdiocese of Malta.

3. Eligibility

3.1 Eligible programmes

3.1.1 The PFI and the Sec PLA reserve the right to include a programme of studies for the Get Formed! scheme before or after that programme is officially opened to enrolment.

3.1.2 The PFI and the Sec PLA reserve the right to withdraw a programme of studies from the scheme even after a programme is officially opened to enrolment. Should this happen, students who would have already enrolled into that programme will be offered the possibility of choosing between (i) continuing the course at the full, normal fee without possibility of a Get Formed! refund (ii) withdrawing their enrolment from the course and receiving a full refund.

3.1.3 Even if the first and/or any other occurrence of a programme was included in this scheme, this scheme will not apply automatically to any or all the different occurrences of that programme.

3.1.4 This scheme does not apply to team packages (programmes held for particular parishes on request).

3.1.5 Only programmes which have been successfully completed at Participation or Achievement level can be considered.

3.2 Eligible programmes

Only those who have effectively paid for an occurrence of a programme marked as eligible for this scheme on the date of application to the programme and which has successfully been completed at participation or achievement level can validly apply for the Get Formed! scheme. This may be the student themselves or a third-party who might have paid for them. In either case, the student who completed the programme must have been a registered parish pastoral worker with the Archdiocese of Malta at the time of enrolment in the programme and at the time of submission of the Get Formed! application form.

3.3 Eligible costs

3.3.1 Only programme registration fees paid directly to the PFI will be considered refundable by this scheme. Non-eligible costs include but are not limited to transport to/from lecture venues, study materials, personal electronic devices, extra administrative fees etc.

3.3.2 When submitting the application form, the applicant will also explicitly state that the refunded part of the student’s programme fees have not and will not be reimbursed nor compensated in whole or in part from any other source whatsoever.

4. Application process

4.1 Submission deadline:

Applicants must apply for a Get Formed! refund within one (1) calendar month from the date of issue of the certificate which attests to successful programme completion at Participation or Achievement level.

4.2 Required documentation:

The applicant must fill in the scheme’s application form and may be asked to submit to the PFI/Sec PLA:

a. Proof of successful payment of the initial registration fees.
b. Proof of successful completion of the programme at Participation or Achievement level.

Note that, after receiving a correctly completed application, the Issuer may still request any further documentation which it deems necessary for deciding for or against the applicant’s request.

5. Request Review

5.1 Disciplinary measures:

If an applicant deliberately withholds information and/or gives incorrect information which is pertinent to Get Formed! eligibility, the Issuer reserves the right not only to refuse the applicant’s request but also to enact disciplinary measures according to the procedures described in the official “Terms & Conditions for Students”, even if the application has been submitted but has not yet been processed.

5.2 Possible responses to valid requests:

Eligibility as described in section 3 is necessary, but not sufficient, for being awarded a Get Formed! refund: the Issuer still then reserves the right to grant or to not grant a refund, as well as the discretion to decide the precise percentage of fees refunded, up to a maximum of 70% of the original programme fees. Factors which may be considered in not issuing the refund include but are not limited to: the relevance or lack thereof of the programme to the student’s ministry, disciplinary procedures, status of the individual’s ministry within the parish etc.

5.3 Communication of decision

The Issuer will communicate its decision regarding the Get Formed! request via e-mail to the applicant, endeavouring to do so within a maximum of two (2) calendar months of receiving all the necessary documentation as described in section 4.

5.4 Appeals

Not later than two (2) weeks after receiving the Issuer’s decision, an applicant may appeal the decision to deny or to only partially accept the latter’s Get Formed! refund request by communicating this in writing to the Issuer. This appeal will then be discussed by the Board of the PFI whose decision is then final. Should the applicant then wish to appeal the Board’s decision, this may be done by lodging their appeal in writing with the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Malta.

6. Issuing of refunds

6.1 Refunds will be issued to the person or entity which had originally paid for the programme.

6.1.1 Although refunds will ordinarily be issued through the same payment method which had been used for the payment of the enrolment, the Issuer reserves the right to decide on which refund method to utilise.

6.1.2 The refunds may be collected in person at the Issuer’s offices in Floriana by appointment. The applicant may also request that the refund be posted by cheque, in which case the Issuer does not assume responsibility for the loss or damage of the cheque after it has entered the custody of MaltaPost p.l.c.. Cheques will not be reissued if they are not deposited before their expiry date.